GM Omar Khan Press Conference (July 23) | Pittsburgh Steelers

GM Omar Khan Press Conference (July 23) | Pittsburgh Steelers

What’s up, guys? Great to see everyone. Um, you know, I I did want to uh start by just kind of acknowledging uh Craig Wolfley. Uh, you know, this is the first camp since uh since I’ve been here where uh he won’t be here and won’t see him every day in front of Benedict Hall and I think I speak for everyone in here when I say that we miss him and hopefully he’s looking down proudly at all of us and um you know, we uh we make him proud this year. So, uh Wolf, we miss you. uh to the community here as always. I just want to thank them uh for embracing us and having us here. We’ve uh I I’ve been coming here since 2001 with the exception of the two two co years where we didn’t come here. And um it it’s been awesome. You know, we don’t take our time here for granted and we appreciate the way uh how welcoming the community is. The people here are great and obviously having our fans here is is just awesome and uh can’t wait to see them and uh meet a bunch of them here. I think um uh the last time I spoke to you guys was um after we traded for George. So, I’ll just mention a couple uh a couple of things that we’ve done. Um, obviously, um, we signed Aaron, signed Aaron Rogers, and can’t wait for the fans to kind of get to know him and, you know, we’ve been getting to know him and it’s been it’s been really cool and I’m excited for you guys to get to know him and uh and our fans and uh feel good about uh having him lead our team, our offense, and um uh yeah, so I think you guys will speak to him here at some point and uh uh excited to have him. Uh what else have we done? you know, we traded for uh Jaylen and John Smith, and you guys have heard me several times talk about how important position flexibility is for me. And uh that’s what those those guys are. Those guys are uh both Pro Bowl players uh that in my opinion, in our opinion, can line up in different places on the field and do some exciting things. And uh you know, we’ll see how it all shakes out. You know, that’s what training camp’s for. Uh we’ll figure out the roles and uh but just really really excited to have those guys on board. Uh I think they’re going to help us. And again, those are guys that, you know, get really getting to know them over the last few weeks. Guys that are our players I think uh you guys and the fans are really going to enjoy having around. Um what else have we done? We extended Deshawn Elliot. Uh you know, Deshawn, we signed him last year to a two-year deal, and it was really a good experience for us, uh and for him, and uh it just made sense to extend him. And you know, we we we we he’s he we realize, you know, he’s a player we want to have around. And um not that we didn’t have the expectations when he came on board of who he was going to be and how good of a player he was, but uh it made sense for us to extend them and I’m glad we got done that done. Um uh what else am I missing here? Uh, obviously TJ, we got TJ finalized and um, you know, I said, I think when you guys when I met with you guys at the combine and I was asked about that and you know, it was always very important for me and for the organization to uh, to have TJ be a one helmet hall of famer and hopefully he’s got several years left and uh, we feel really really good about having him uh, locked up and excited and um, yeah. So, here we are and uh, not sure if I missed anything you guys want to ask about, but free to take any questions. Omar, how important for you to get TJ under contract before camp, take away a distraction and did it come about any quicker than maybe you thought it was going to? You know, I’ll be honest with you, Jerry. I think these things sort of uh I’m sure when you guys negotiate all your big deals with your company, also you guys uh you guys realize sometimes these things take longer takes longer than uh than you would like. But uh you know, I I I’m always felt good about getting it done. um you know when it happened, you know, it happened last week and um it all came together, you know, we had conversations obviously since since early in the offseason. It just kind of came together uh last week or the week before that and uh uh yeah, it was was good and it’s nice to have it done before we get here. Um you know, I think he’s excited, we’re excited, and I think hopefully the fans are excited and uh here we go. What went into the decision to have, you know, move on from Minka for lack of a better phrase? Yeah, I don’t know if necessarily was uh moving on from Minka. We had an opportunity to acquire two Pro Bowl players that we felt with where we are as a team. Um made sense for us. Um you know, have a lot of respect for Minka. Minka was a great football player uh for years for a few years for us and um you know, wish him the best. But um it was really opportunity to acquire these two players that we think can help us. So, what’s the thinking at that safety position then? Is that to be filled by Thornhill or is Ramsay going to play a lot of that role? Um, how do you fill that void then with what you’ve got? Are you looking out outside? Yeah, we signed Juan. You know, that’s not to say we we we won’t look to see what else is out there, but part of being at training camp is for us to kind of figure out and get to know the players that we have and see how those roles are going to take uh how they how they’re going to come together. And you know, I’m sure you guys will ask coach throughout training camp about how these guys are progressing and what he’s seeing, but that’s that’s really what training camp is to help us sort through all that out. Did you envision this much change when you set out to lay out that plan that you would bring this many new faces in? I I wouldn’t say exact. You know, I we didn’t have a number in place, but you know, the way we ended last year wasn’t good enough. And we knew we talked about change having to happen. I know people maybe expect to change sooner than later, but changes always happen at the pace everybody um expects, but uh we knew changes had to be made. Um and uh here we are. Omar TJ was just in. He said he’s excited about this new team because you’re responsible partly responsible for building this new team. What do you feel? Are you excited? Are you curious? Or what’s your approach? Are you nervous? What? Um, I’d say excited and curious. Um, you know, Jerry, a lot of thought goes to everyone goes into every one of these decisions. Um, it’s not just, hey, you know, Jerry Doolak’s available. Let’s trade for him. He’s the best best guy out there. What’s that? Be a good deal. Yeah, good deal. And, um, so, um, you know, I’m I’m I’m like everyone else. you know, I’m I’m uh I’m in this role, but I’m excited to watch these guys perform on the field and uh see how our team comes together. And obviously, we have expectations for ourselves, but we uh you know, we’re we’re just going to do our best and try to get better every day. Is it tough to get be patient with Aaron Rogers? I’m sure you obviously knew more than we did, but those months going by and there was no official decision yet. Were you ever wondering that this might not work out? Um, you know, we we obviously were having conversations. Um, you know, some people might view my patients or our patients as a weakness, but we view it as a strength. Uh, and uh, you know, we just felt good about it. We, you know, if there was if there was a point where we didn’t think things would would end up where we wanted to end up, we would have, you know, gone in a different direction, but we just felt comfortable and felt good about it. And, you know, we wanted Aaron Rogers and Aaron Rogers wanted to be a Steeler and it worked out. Over the last two years, Minka saw less and less deep ball targets where he could make a play on. That’s something Juan Thornne even just today was talking about like, hey, like Minka was still playing well. People aren’t giving him shots. Was that part of the impetus to get bring Jaylen Ramsey in an exchange because he’s a guy that can naturally play close with a lot of your quarterback and still be a turnover creator for you guys? You know, I I’ll just say uh you know, Jaylen Jaylen, you know, as I mentioned earlier, he’s he’s got a lot of he’s got some position flexibility. I think you guys will will see he’s going to line up in different places on the field and can do some exciting things and I mean he’s proved it. He’s proved it. I mean his um his resume speaks for itself. Lamar, you acquired a number of players older than 30. Obviously Aaron is in his 40s. You extended TJ till he’ll be 34 at the end of this deal. What steps do you take to try to make sure that you’re protected as an organization when you’re acquiring older players? And are you concerned about the age of your team and the potential for injuries and things like that? Yeah, I mean we’re not concerned about the age. Uh I think we’re going to be smart how we handle those guys. Um uh but you know we every every one of these is a case byase issue and it’s just part of the process on how things come together. But um you know we’re not we’re not uh trying to do anything that’s going to hurt us in the future. Every decision we make uh is u important not only for this year but for the next couple years. You’re making a move at the magnitude of the Ramsay. Do you get to talk to numerous people say is he open to play in other positions other than outside corner and and did Mike Mike’s had dinner with him this is eight years ago or whatever but does that relationship just might say hey I can vouch for him or whatever as a as a guy and a player sure you know before you make these type of decisions and you know you seal the deal you know you like to have the opportunity to uh you know you have a have a conversation with the agent or or sometimes the teams give you permission to speak to the player directly and you know we we are always going to be very transparent by what our expectations are, what are what are the roles um what the roles going to be and um yeah, you know, it’s if if both sides didn’t feel comfortable, we wouldn’t have done it. Before you guys had a really busy off season to this point, do you anticipate looking at any other extensions for guys that are currently on the roster or acquiring outside talent, whether wide receivers, safety, anything else that comes available? Um in terms of extensions, there’s nothing going on right now. Um, you know, could there be a player maybe that we think about? Um, sure. I mean, that that option is still available. Um, you know, I think you all said about acquiring other uh players. You know, I I’ll be honest with you, like I we made a lot of moves this this year and I feel really good about where our team is right now. Um, so to say that there’s we’re out there trying to find someone and that’s not the case. You know, if an opportunity comes available, you know, we’ll look at it. But I I I just I feel really good about our team. Along the way then with the acquisition of Janu, did you acquire him with the thinking of he can be our second receiving option if we need him to be or were you acquiring him thinking if I don’t get a guy he can fill that role. So I loved his flexibility. You know, if you look at where he played last year and even when Arthur had him a couple years ago, he lines up at receiver. Uh I I hate to say that he’d be the number two because obviously different plays and different packages require players to be um uh the different target in a specific uh play, but he he has the ability to play receiver uh outside receiver, inside receiver, tight end. He can line up in the back field. It’s just he he gives you so many options on what you can do and that also impacts, you know, who else you have on the field and what they can do. Omar, what did you learn about maybe your receiver depth through OTAAS and mini camp and how do you feel about just the receiver group going into first practice? Yeah, I I feel really good. You know, obviously we traded for DK. DK is going to be an impact player for us. Um, but I I I saw how how uh the growth in Calvin Austin last year and that that was really that was cool to see. Um, watching Roman Wilson this off season has been, you know, it’s been really great to see his uh his progress and where he’s at, you know, and I think we would have seen some of it last year if he would have towards the end of last year if he would have had the opportunity to play. Uh, we acquired Robert Woods, uh, you know, some a veteran leader in that room. So, I, you know, feel really good about that position. Omar, you received your own contract extension in the offseason. What does that mean to you personally and how do you view the opportunity to continue leading this team for the next handful of years and beyond? Yeah, obviously there’s pressure. You know, our goal is to win a Super Bowl and that’s that’s that’s what I’m striving for. Um, you know, I’m I’m very appreciative to the to Art Rooney um for this opportunity and, you know, I feel like I owe it to him and, you know, to the organization, to the fans, um, to do everything I can to win a Super Bowl. I mean, that’s what they want. That’s what I want. Um, so it’s our goal. You know, Omar, you uh your your history, your strength has been on the money side. Uh has there been something of a chip on your shoulder to prove that you’re a personnel guy, too? Um no, I mean, not not really a chip. You know, I I worked very closely with Kevin Colbert for 20some years. And you know, him and I probably spent more time with each other than we did with our uh our families. We were together all the time. So, um, you know, I I I I I feel like my time with him allowed me to learn, uh, the different parts of the, uh, of the business. All those trades, though. What would Kevin say about all those trades? When you see them, you should ask him. I’m curious to see what he would say. But on the flip side of that, two more here. Two more right now. did, you know, 25 years of contract negotiations, does that skill set pay off then when you’re communicating with another general manager and trying to negotiate a trade? Um, that’s a interesting question. Um, you know, I I I would say this when you talk to other general managers, the key is um relationships and the relationships you have and the ability to have honest conversations. Um, that’s a key. And um you know, this is for things to get done, it has to be really both sides have to feel like it’s a win-win. And um so I I I’d say just having the ability to to build relationships and have honest conversations and and be upfront about uh what everyone’s goals are. It’s that’s the key. Have you found Have you found it difficult to build for the now while protecting the future? I know you mentioned a little bit earlier, but how fine of a line is that to you know get both sides accounted for right there? Yeah, that’s I mean it’s I it’s it’s important like I said um you know I think when I talked to some of you guys at the league meetings, you know, you mentioned that um you know we we always kept in mind what our draft uh capital situation would be next year and you know we’re staring at uh probably 10 to 12 picks next year and um you know we really weren’t willing to uh stray away from uh or give up too many of those picks with some of the stuff that we’ve done. Um, so it’s, you know, it’s it’s important. We’re aware of it. Um, you know, I think when you when you look ahead, I think, uh, when you guys asked about the age factor, you know, it’s it’s it’s don’t really you’re not really there saying, okay, this guy’s too old or or this and that, but you know, we’re trying to win this year, but we also understand that there’s just going to be a natural youth movement next year next year when you have 10 to 12 uh, you know, draft picks available to you. So, uh, but we’re excited. You know, I’m going to start my meetings with the scouts later this week, and we understand that what we have, uh, available to us. So, always, they always do a great job, work really hard, but we’re just going to have to work a little, uh, little little harder this year because we have, uh, lots of picks. All right. Thank

Omar Khan speaks to the media ahead of the Steelers 2025 Training Camp.

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